I bought a few this year but mainly to store and age. I haven't tried any but the Bada cake and it is still young. I was interested in the Xiao Yao but I failed to pull the trigger on it. I did buy the HeKai and hopefully it will be as good as the prior years.

Tried a Dayi 0712 today...home aged here in HK for three years after six years of Kunming cryostorage. Nice color change, but hard to break up and very bitter when brewed longer, grandpa style. Not as much complexity as I'd hoped for, but it is distinctly different from any other aged sheng I've tried yet. Nice aged taste to it, but again, this is something different. It'll be interesting to see what this cake is like in two years!

Yi Wu 2005. Old young raw? Maybe, still plenty of kick left on this one. The liquor has turned into a slightly red amber but with the Yi Wu complexity before pu starts to move into the boring category before they really mature and deliver the goods aged cakes do...for that wait another 30 years. I might not be on this planet by then so I shall to stick to young/ish cakes.

Just had Healthy Leafs 2003 Infected Mushroom.
I set myself up some time to do this one. I was given a 10 gram sample of this to try. I heated the water and preheated the gaiwan. I tossed the sample in there after draining the water out and tossed it around. The aroma was pretty light.

Going with the vendors recommendation with a good 20 second rinse since it is a tuo and compressed tight. I let it sit an hour and came back to it.
First brew was light in color and a small amount of aroma woodsy and earthy. The brew was a bit silky and almost creamy in mouthfeel. There is just a tiny whisper of smoke in there. The brew has the wood notes and sweetness to it. I can see the jam note reference.
Second brew brought out some more notes. I can faintly get the juniper the vendor described along with some mineral and sweetness. There is an aftertaste of mint if you let this sit across your palate and breathe in a bit.
Third brew the wet leaf has started getting the whiskey barrel note to it. The brew is darker and full with the smoke coming back in but the sweetness and berry comes at the end.
I expect this one to brew a while and I will add an addendum to this. It keeps getting stronger and may outlast me on the session for today. I have no doubt that this will brew well tomorrow as well.
The thing about this tea is the aging. Not so dry as to not mature and not so wet as to get the mustiness that often accompanies it. This is right and one of the best, so far, Dali Tuos that I have had. I think if nothing else of trying this if you don’t mind the smoke touches in there. A sample if as good as the one I got will give you a great session with this tea.